I want to say something. Anything.
But the moment is gone the second the front door opens.
Cameron’s voice booms into the house like he’s trying to bring energy in with him. “I’m back! I brought—” He pauses, then adds, “Well, I brought nothing. But I’m back.”
Sloane flinches away from me like she’s been caught doing something illegal.
My stomach drops becausemaybe we were.
Cameron rounds the corner into the kitchen, keys in hand, hoodie half unzipped, hair a mess like he ran his hands through it too many times.
His eyes flick between us.
Not suspicious—at first. Just curious.
Then his gaze lands on Sloane, and the softness on her face disappears instantly. Armor snaps back on like a reflex.
“I’m going to my room,” she announces too fast.
Cameron blinks. “Uh…okay?”
Sloane brushes past him without looking at either of us. Her shoulder bumps mine on the way by, and the contact is small but electric.
I go still.
Sloane doesn’t look back.
Her door clicks shut down the hall.
Cameron stares after her for a beat, then turns to me, brows knitting. “What was that?”
I keep my expression neutral. “Sloane being Sloane.”
Cameron narrows his eyes like he doesn’t buy it, then sighs and grabs a water bottle from the fridge.
He twists the cap too hard. Plastic cracks loudly, and he winces like the noise hurt him.
I watch him as he drinks, throat working, jaw tight. Not dramatic. Just…tense. Like his body is holding something he refuses to put down.
“Long day?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says, the word rough around the edges.
Silence stretches.
I hate silence lately. Silence is where my brain starts listing all the ways I can lose this family.
Cameron’s gaze flicks to my brace. “How was rehab?”
“Well, I’m still breathing,” I say.
That earns the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth. Not quite a smile. But close.
“Good,” he mutters. “Keep doing it.”
He sets the bottle down and leans a hip against the counter, staring at the staged equipment off to the side like if he looks long enough, it’ll climb back into the box and disappear.
“It’s weird,” he says finally.
